LatinNews Daily - 06 December 2018

In brief: Mexico

* Mexican opposition senators have filed a constitutional complaint against the recently approved ‘Ley de federal de renumeraciones de los Servidores Públicos’ law before the supreme court (SCJN). The law, which significantly reduces the salaries of public officials and stipulates that no public official can earn more than the president, is an integral element in the ‘republican austerity’ economic plan that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has pledged to implement to shore up Mexico’s public finances. However, the approval of the law has sparked thousands of legal complaints by public servants on the grounds that it undermines their labour rights. The complaint presented to the SCJN by the opposition senators argues that the law is unconstitutional as it undermines the independence of the judiciary by forcing it to adopt a salary cap and denying it the ability to attract quality employees. The SJCN has accepted the senators’ complaint and it is expected to rule on it in the coming weeks.